Modelling and quantitative analyses of WR spectra:
recent progress and results
W.-R. Hamann, L. Koesterke and G. Gräfener
The quantitative analysis of Wolf-Rayet type spectra requires
non-LTE-models for expanding atmospheres which have been developed in
the last decade. Idealizing assumptions of the so-called standard model
are spherical symmetry, homogeneity and stationarity. While the first
generations of models were restricted to simple atoms (helium,
hydrogen), we now apply more advanced calculations which account for
complex model atoms (nitrogen, carbon, oxygen). The re-analysis of the
Galactic WN sample from the nitrogen lines led to a substantial
revision of the stellar parameters, as far as the WNE-w subclass
is concerned.
Wind inhomogeneity ("clumping") has been accounted for in a
first-order approximation. The degree of clumping is derived from the
electron-scattering wings of strong lines. With clumped models,
considerably lower mass-loss rates (by a factor two or more) are
obtained, while other empirical parameters are not affected
significantly.
An overview is given about the fundamental parameters of Wolf-Rayet
stars as obtained from spectral analyses, including new results on WN
stars in the LMC.
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